Means for teaching shorthand.



APPLICATION FILED 11113.27, 1908.

Patented May 28, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0 WASHINGTON, D. C.

ROY STANLEY ASHTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

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To all whom it may: concern:

Be it known that I, ROY STANLEY AsH- TON, citizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Im: provements in Means for Teaching Shorthand, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in devices for use in teaching shorthand, languages, spelling, etc.

The present invention has for its objects among others to provide a simple and cheap device for facilitating the learning of the principles of shorthand for practical use, and it comprises a shieldfor holding the exercise sheet, and a hinged or movable portion at one end of the shield of proper length and width and adapted to serve as hereinafter described. 7

Other objects and advantages'ofthe 1n- Vention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

7 The invention in its preferred form is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the numerals of reference marked thereon, 'forma part of this invention and in which Figure 1 is a view of the copy holder with the hinged portion closed and the exercise card in place. 'Fig; 2 is. a similar view with the hinged part thrownback and a portion of the holder brokenaway. Fig. 8 is an edge View. Fig. l is a view of. the exercise card. Y Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. ;This device consists of paper insheets (only one of which is shown), ruled with a base line'2 (in red for shorthand use) with I intermediate lines 3 in' other 'colors, if de sired, to determine the heightof'letters, also with vertical lines 1 to provide alternate columnsof longhand and shorthand, or vice versa or for one column of longhand alternating with two or three columns of shorthand, or. vice versa;'or in columns of equal Widtheach of which is to befilled with shorthand; the style of ruling'depending" upon the method in which the device is used, 'as hereinafter described, and also upon the character of the exercises to be written. There is also a shield 5 constructed of paper, wood, metal or other substance, open at one or both ends, as at 6, into which the ruled V Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 27, 1908.

Patented Ma 28,1912.

Serial No. 423,677. r

sheet 1 as above described, fastened with clips 7 'to a baseboard v8 of some, inflexible material, is inserted and may bepushed in as the sheet is filled column by column, so thatthe edge of the shield coincides with the left-hand edgejof theicolumn in which the writing is being done so as to cover and conceal that portion of the sheet'already written upon.

The shield is constructed in. the form of a long, flat box, open at one or bothrends, into which the exercise sheet, mounted on its baseboard, is inserted, as described above. To the top or lid or cover 9 of the shield is at tached a copy-holder, which consists of a strip of thin, inflexible material 10, about from threeto five inches wide and as long as the shield is wide, to reach from edge to edge of the shield. This strip is hinged at its left hand side, as at 11, to the cover of the shield in such a manner that when turned down the right hand edge of the strip will coincide with the right hand edge of'the,

shield. 1 1

The copy is printed or written near the right hand edge of'slip's ruled to correspond T with the ruling'on the sheet as described above, the slips to be of convenient width for attachin to the copy-holder 'as here inafter descrlbed. The shorthand copy may be contained on one slip'and the correspond 1 ing longhand key-on a separate slip, orboth the shorthand and thelonghand copiesmay be contained on the same slip in columns side by side, as in Fig. 1, the shorthand copy next to the edge. In thelonghand key, to

economize space, two or three words may be written or printed oneabove the other between eachbase line, the same words to be produced in the shorthand copy side by side on the corresponding baseline between the verticallines defining the column. a

. The device may be used indifferent ways,

as follows: A copy,qconsisting of a single slip on-Which appears both the shorthand copy I Y and the longhand key, as described above, is p 7 attached face upward to the copy-holder "(hinged portion) by means. of, clips 12, in such amanner that the righthand edge of the copy will coincide with the right hand In this position the edge of the holder. right hand'edges of the copy, the holder and the shield will all three coincide. ,An exercise sheet, as describedlabove, ruled to pro-f vide alternate columns of shorthand and longhand, or otherwise asrequired, is'then holder and thus concealed from view. The,

pupil then transcribes his notes which he has writ-ten in the first column, into longhand in the second column, said transcript to appear the. same as the original longhand key. The copy-holder is then turned forward to its original position, exposing the copy, and the pupil thencompares his transcript with the original key and makes corrections. The holder is then again reversed,

concealing the copy, and the sheet is pushed into the shield far enough to conceal the first column already filled with shorthand so that nothing is exposed except his longhand transcript, from which he re-writes the exercise in shorthand in the third column. The holder is then turned forward again to expose the copy, and the pupil then compares his shorthand notes just written with the original shorthand copy and makes corrections. The holder is again reversed and the exercise again transcribed from his last notes into longhand in the next column. This process is repeated in the same routine column by column until the sheet is filled, care being taken to push the sheet into the shield after each column sufficient to cover and conceal what has already been written and expose only the column last written. It will be noted that in doing this the column last written is always side by side with the original copy when the holder is turned forward, which makes the work of comparison and correction very easy and handy.

By using two contiguous shorthand columns alternating with one longhand column, the pupil may be required, after correcting a column of shorthand, to re-write the exercise thus corrected in the adjoining column before making the next longhand transcript, thus providing himself with a perfect shorthand copy from which to make the transcript, and also furnishing twice as much practice in the writing of the exercise as in its transcription, which proportion usually accomplishes the best results. If the pupil is found to have considerabledifiiculty in reading his shorthand, two contiguous longhand columns may also be provided for the rewriting of the longhand transcript in the same manner after correction.

The device may be used substantially in the manner described above in teaching foreign languages, spelling, scientific nomenclature, or any other subject requiring repetition study or practice for the memorizing of lists of words or terms, definitions, abbreviations, symbols, phrases or sentences, or their transcript, translation, or transposition.

Other modifications in detail may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

What is clalmed as new 152-- 1. A device for the purpose described,-

comprising a box-like shield open at the end, a copy holder movably connected therei with to lie flat thereupon and to be folded away from the open end of the shield, clips on said copy holder, an exercise sheet removably contained within said shield and a backing for said sheet, and means for securing said sheet and back together.

2. A device for the purpose described,

comprising a box-like shield open at the end,

a copy holder movably connected therewith to lie fiat thereupon and to be folded away from the open end of the shield, clips on said copy holder, an exercise sheet remov ably contained within said shield, a backing for said sheet, and a clip for securing the ends of said sheet and backing together.

3. The device herein described, comprising an exercise sheet, a backing, means for detachably holding the sheet and backing together at one end, a shield of box-like form open at one'end, a cover for said shield, a copy holder hinged at one edge to said cover and adapted to fold flat against the cover or fiat against the exercise sheet, and clips on the sides of said copy holder, all as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ROY STANLEY ASHTON.

Witnesses:

' WILLIAM L. SCOTT,

WILLIAM F. WAITE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

